The sort of people who decide these things have decided that blue is the big menswear colour for this spring. At first glance, that doesn't sound radical: almost everyone owns an item of clothing that's either navy or sky-blue. But the shade that was on the catwalks and is soon to turn up in Topman is more like the deep blue patented by the artist Yves Klein.

The more waspish commentator might say the fashion industry's desire to pay homage to Yves Klein is hardly surprising. If your business involves trying to convince people they have to change their entire wardrobe every six months, the appeal of a man who successfully convinced people to pay him for "immaterial works" consisting of empty space is fairly obvious. But for all its richness, Yves Klein blue is a far bolder colour than your average Brit male is comfortable with wearing.

It's nice to see someone trying to inject a bit of colourful pep into the male wardrobe, but there's something about this particular shade of blue that smacks of clothes worn in the less glamorous end of the retail industry. It's fine on jackets, coats and cardigans, but I recently tried on a deep blue polo shirt that made me look as if I worked in a motorway service station: all that was missing was a plastic badge with my name on it.

Disconcerted, I tried teaming it with a black tailored jacket. I now looked like the manager of a motorway service station. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with working in a motorway service station, but even the most enthusiastic employee of Welcome Break or Moto might balk at wearing their uniform out of hours. Anyone planning on venturing into the deep blue is thus advised to exercise caution.